Xmas ideas to make and do
We start at 10.30 with coffee and proceed with the
meeting. Bring your lunch to eat after the meeting.
All welcome.

Any enquiries, please contact Vibeke Courtney
ph: 576 3150

Årets Børnefest

Sunday 30th September 2pm – 4.30pm
Come to our annual Children’s Party – bring Mum,
Dad or Grandparents and let’s have a lot of fun.
Among the activities will be:
• Make your own cool placemat
• Bake biscuits (and help eat them)
• Watch how lollies are made (and get to try them, of course)
• Table tennis tournament … and lots more
Afternoon tea will be served; coffee and tea for
adults. Please phone Inger on 443 5105 or email
robinger2@ihug.co.nz to indicate your interest in this
arrangement or if you have any questions.

Members rates for hiring the hall for the whole day
at the Danish House, Penrose.
Sunday to Friday inclusive
$100
Saturday:
$150
Half a day is $25 less. Funerals – no charge.
The bond is $100.00 per booking.
The booking/holding fee of $50.00 is deducted from
the total cost.

Of Smørrebrød, Change
and our Collective
Responsibility
Some seventy people,
(approximately half were members)
really enjoyed themselves at the last
Smørrebrøds Party in July. There
was time to talk, without music and
time to dance with the music.

Of course conversation is always
better with good food and to Danes
that is what smørrebrød is. Guests
equally enjoyed the conversation
and the ambience. It was a good
experience, people of all ages,
young and those no longer in their
youth mixing together.

The Smørrebrøds team had a
great time too.

Change and more
Change
What I became aware of was
the absence of members. It says
something about the changing

world we live in that is influencing
our attitudes, thinking and values.
Because change is happening in the
world and community around us,
so it is in the Danish Society.
Our membership is changing. Of
those that started the Society, many
have passed on and are too frail to
participate. There are still a large
number of people who have been
intensely involved over the years,
even on the committee and are not
seen now at any functions. Perhaps
it was a situation of burnout, which
so readily happens to volunteer
work and then it feels hard to join
in again.
Yes the Society has changed.
Nothing can be as it was in the” old
days” though some traditions are
maintained with adaptations to the
New Zealand setting. That happens
in Denmark too of course. What is
happening however presently in
The Danish Society is that members
and their friends find satisfaction
and friendship in small groups.
There is the Card Club, a vital source
of friendship and fun, the folk
dancers, the Mothers group, the
Valhalla working bee group and the
newly formed Wednesday Morning
group. These groups are vital for
the life of the Society.
Those members that do seek
to venture out and come to a
Smørrebrøds Party or function
usually meet friends or new people
that become friends. Most of us
go away with a sense of “that was
worthwhile”. The Danish Society
is one of the few places where one
can meet people of different ages,
Danes and Kiwis and mix with
them. Now where else does one do
that?

Danish Society News Magazine September 2007

A steady
stream
of new
members
Presently there is a high
proportion of new members, who
join the Society because of their
Danish ancestry. We welcome
them. Here is an opportunity for
those involved in the Society for
many years and those who have
recently come from Denmark to
share their culture and experiences
with others.

A Legacy of participation
The issue really is that the
Danish Society, not only needs
members who are prepared to pay
their subscriptions annually but to
be involved as well. The amazing
contributions of members in the
50s and 60s onwards have given us
a legacy of enormous worth, not
only in bricks and mortar but also
in the very essence of the Society
which after all is about culture and
friendship.
If you have worked hard in the
past for the Society, which many
of you have, come and share your
presence through participation
in functions. To look after this
“treasure“ that we have been gifted,
members do need to participate.
There is a place for all to play
their part. Let me mention a few
things - gardeners, administrators,
financial knowledge, handymen
or women, computer skills,
writers, musicians, designers,
conservationists, architects, cooks,
kitchen hands, teachers, musicians,
helpers and the list goes on an
on. You don’t have to be on the
Continued on page 4
3

President’s Report continued from page 3
committee to contribute.
What gives pleasure for all involved in the Danish
Society is meeting people and working and together
and having fun with others.
In three months time there will be an AGM with
election. What could you contribute?
The work load of the committee is enormous. They
all do it willingly and for free. The Danish Society is a
Social Club after all but it has huge responsibilities from

our legacies of the recent past and only by members
participating together can we go forward.
I shall be back at the end of September, having
spent a little time in Denmark which is always a treat
and come back refreshed to
participate in the life of the
Society.
Med venlig hilsen
Karen

Recent Photos

Above: Some of the Wednesday Morning Group
Right: At the July party

Film review for Sept 21st

“Et rigtigt menneske”
(“A Real Human Being”)

- a Danish dogme movie with English subtitles.

From 2001 with Nikolaj Lie Kaas,
Peter Mygind and Susan A. Olsen.

A little girl’s invisible friend living in the wall in
her room suddenly materialises. He has to
learn to live like a real human being, but it’s
really hard to get accepted in society when
you don’t know the rules.
4

Danish Society News Magazine September 2007

We need your help!

at the next Valhalla Working Bees
15-16 September 2007 (3rd weekend of the month),
13-14 October 2007 (2nd weekend of the month)
10-11 November 2007 (2nd weekend of the month),
8-9 December 2007 (2nd weekend of the month)

We are seeking your support to carry out a whole range of jobs (inside
and outside). The main focus over the next few months is to finish the
cross gully track; refresh the foyer area with new paint, new clear plastic
roofing, new cupboards and a concrete floor; as well as upgrading the steps to Pa (Ocean)
Beach. Any help is welcome. Some volunteers come for the day whilst others stay the weekend.

If you are able to help in any way, please contact Richard Logan, 480 9883 (Home)

Valhalla Working Bee - August 11-12, 2007
It was a small team of seven members who
participated in the August working bee. The main
focus of the weekend was:
• Spraying tracks, transplanting 90 flax plants along
our coastal ridgeline and weeding four lookout areas,
• Digging drains, releasing trees from kikuyu, putting
out 180 red marker canes around the climax trees,
• Repairing wallpaper in a number of rooms and
cleaning the mildew off the Bornholm walls,
• Cleaning the dark chocolate rafters in the foyer and
then painting them with a first coat of white paint,
which greatly improved the light and brightness of
that area, and

• Doing lots of invisible jobs such as changing light
bulbs, cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.
Our neighbour has just finished planting something
like 400 kauris in the gully between Valhalla and the
Marae. This will look very impressive in years to come
and will provide an attraction in itself.
A number of members and guests have mentioned
to me and the Committee how Valhalla and the
revegetation programme is such a wonderful
learning experience. It is a learning experience for
me as convenor, the committee, the working bee
group and the Society in general. It even seems that
our neighbour, even though right next door, has a
different geography and perhaps geology to us and
they experience different effects to what we have,
for example they have suffered from a lot of salt
burn whereas we haven’t. So we even learn from our
neighbour. Likewise they are
watching what we are doing,
so they are also learning.
My thanks go to all those
who attended the working
bee.
Richard Logan,
Valhalla Convenor
(Development)
16 August 2007
5

The Optima Style online shop is owned and
run by Bettina Casper from Denmark who
now lives in Christchurch together with her
family.
I specialise in unique, high quality, yet
affordable children’s fashion and stylish home
accessories, sourced mainly from Denmark
and from New Zealand.
During recent trips to Copenhagen visiting
family and friends, I noticed that Danish
designers are creating the most gorgeous
clothes for babies and children, with prints in
bright colours. Having received many positive
comments about my son’s wardrobe, I decided
to make some of these brands together with
other high quality Danish products more
readily available in New Zealand.
Together with silky soft 100% pure New
Zealand merino babywear, beautiful image
blocks and funky Italian designer tableware,
there is something unique for a special
occasion or something stylish for everyday.
My online shop is a great option for people
wishing to send gifts or gift vouchers to
family and friends in New Zealand or
overseas – or a place to find gorgeous Danish
design for themselves. I offer you a secure
and convenient shopping experience, a gift
wrapping service and fast New Zealand and
worldwide delivery. Orders can be placed
directly online or by posting the order
form which is also available online. Several
payment options are available including credit
card, cheque or bank transfer.
For more information visit my website at
www.optimastyle.com or give me a call on
03 942 5774. I look
forward to hearing
from you.

6

Winter Warm-Up 2007

On Saturday August 11th several hundred enthusiastic international
folk dancers gathered at the Danish House for the annual Winter
Warm-Up. Eleven dance groups performed dances from their
country and then the audience leapt up to join in the simpler and
fun dances. The Finnish Dance Group did a great job feeding the
hungry dancers with Finnish style food.

A Donation to the Danish Society
The Danish Society was given this painting by
Dr David and Mrs Cynthia Dove. It had previously
belonged to the Liebergren family who came to
New Zealand from Rhodesia around the 1960’s and
happened to live next door to the Dove family. The
two families became friends and this painting was
given to the Dove’s by the Liebergrens.
The Liebergrens were members of the Danish
Society. Some senior members may remember them.
The painting is by Finn Wennervald and is named
Efteraar. From briefly searching the net, this painter
was very active up till his death in 1960 painting Danish
landscapes. Some are being sold on net art auctions.
Presently it is felt that there is little room at Danish
House to display the painting. In the mean time it is
being stored until the best action to take becomes
clear.
Karen Andersen Yates
Auckland
524 6016
Email: jackyates@xtra.co.nz

Danish Character
Today’s Danes are a peaceable people. The only helmeted warriors left are bikers. When the
Danish Vikings colonized the British Isles, they must have taken with them all the most unruly
elements. Ever since, the British have behaved like Vikings, while the Danes have constructed
a modern liberal welfare state where everyone is cared for, and their football fans are models
of propriety.
From: Xenophobe’s Guide to the Danes
Danish Society News Magazine September 2007

Thank You Letters
To the Danish Society
Many thanks for the beautiful flowers
I received for my birthday.
Erik Nissen
To the Danish Society
Thank you for the flowers you sent to me on my 85th
birthday. It is now 60 years since I first paid my
membership fee of ten shillings ($1). Over that time I
have experienced many highlights including the
hosting of the crew of the Galatea, meeting Queen
Margrethe and Prince Henrik and lately meeting
Princess Benedicte. I continue to enjoy the fellowship
of my card-playing friends each second Wednesday.
Kind regards
Kirsten Pedersen
Til Den Danske Forening
Mange tak for de smukke blomster som jeg modtog
på min 70 års fødselsdag. De gjorde extra glæde til en
dejlig dag.
De venligste hilsner fra
Lise Elowsson

Important Dane Dies

Bjorn Ibsen, who was “the father of modern intensive
care medicine”, died recently in Denmark. In the polio
epidemic of 1952-53 he introduced an intensive-care
unit at Kommunehospitalet in Copenhagen.
From: Weekend Herald August 18, 2007
8

Christmas
Trading Table

at the November Open House

Sunday 4th November
Please, clean out your cupboards,
make Christmas decorations
or do some baking.

Phone Vibeke 576 3150

AGM

Sunday, November 18th

If you have any remits that you’d
like put forward at the AGM please
send them to the secretary by
October 20th.
If you are writing a report for your
group, please send in by October
20th as well.
Secretary: Rolf Siggaard,

P O Box 12 279 Penrose, 1642, Auckland.

Christiansborg, Copenhagen

The next magazine deadline is Sept 17.
All contributions welcome – in Danish or English.
(Arial Narrow font, size 12)

The magazine can also be
read (in full colour) online at
www.danishsocietynz.com.
Note: ads for events must be in a
calendar month before the event.
Pam Logan (Editor)
Danish Society News Magazine September 2007